June 18, 2014

Clear Eyes, Full Hearts

My week long trip to Texas has come to a close and my heart and stomach are full and happy. The past few days were a whirlwind: reunions with friends, meals at my favorite (and new favorite) Houston restaurants and the preparation/celebration of Erin's wedding.

Twin Sista has been gushing about the newest, hippest, schnazzy bakery in Houston from super pastry chef Roy Shvartzepel. I knew I wanted to try out their baked goodies but extra bonus: they have cupcakes!

I sampled their kouign amann, macarons, cookies and crossiant in addition to their cupcake. All. were. so. delicious. The kougn amann was definitely my favorite, with a rich flavor of butter and sugar and just all around goodness. The macarons were fluffy and tasty.

And as for the cupcake, I ordered their one cupcake flavor: chocolate, which was reasonably priced at $3.00 (the other baked goodies are quite expensive). It was perfectly moist and topped with a pudding-like, super tasty frosting, which complemented the cake beautifully. Twin Sista aptly described it as "instant pudding but in the best way possible." I could tell it was made from only the best ingredients, making this quite a fine gourmet cupcake.

an old pic of a past Torchy's experience (didn't take pics of my visit this time)

A must-visit place for when I'm in Houston is always Torchy's Tacos. I fell in love with them when I took a trip to Austin almost 3 years ago and can't get enough of these super delicious tacos. Their taco-of-the-month is always an adventurous treat (this month's was a beef fajita taco with bacon, feta and chimichurri). My all-time favorite is their shrimp taco because I love the combo of the vinegary onions and crispy shrimp.

Since I was a bridesmaid, I got to get my hair done all fancy for the wedding. Erin and the bridesmaids went to a hairstyling place (no haircuts, just fancy do's) and got all made up. It was fun to get pampered!

The Wedding

And of course the best part of the week was Erin and Daniel's wedding. Beautiful & fun wedding for a beautiful & fun couple. And guess who caught the bouquet...